Imaginarium Science Museum

Imaginarium Science Museum - Page Text Content

FC: Imaginarium Fort Myers, Fl

1: The pictures on the cover show the exterior of the Imaginarium Hands-On Museum and Aquarium in Fort Myers, FL. The site of the museum was originally a coal gasification plant, then a water treatment facility and has since been repurposed into use as a museum. The Museums's mission is "to stimulate understanding of the world through exploration of the sciences, art and humanities" (Imaginarium). The pictures on the cover page show the exterior of the museum and the historic water tower. The exterior has been painted a not-so-flattering bright blue with splashes of color here and there. The grounds and the exterior are maintained by a hired maintenance crew and I would assume any changes (such as the color scheme) would have to be approved by the General Manager as well as the City of Fort Myers. The professional positions I mention are the real position titles at the museum found their "Meet our Team" page.

2: This is a picture of the gift shop, the main entrance and admissions. The staff was very courteous and friendly. Represented in the picture is the museum store staff including volunteers and the store supervisor, the museum educators as well as the PR coordinator. I know the lady we bought our tickets from was a volunteer because I actually asked her. According to Museum Careers, "shop managers assist with product development and marketing" and so I don't think its unreasonable to assume educators and pr coordinators have input (p. 90).

3: They represent the work of the museum educators as they "organize exhibitions...picking objects and/or displays" (Schlatter, p. 81). | These were some of the MANY puzzle stations we saw around the museum.

4: This is the main lobby of the museum. Although its not a very good picture, its showing a giant robot made out of card board (which I believe was the winner of a contest), signs of the grounds, wall plaques and small exhibits. Represented here are the efforts of the majority of the staff, including the educators, the exhibit technician and definitely the PR/Marketing coordinator.

5: This is a display case with Imaginarium memorabilia. I would imagine this would be due to the efforts of the PR/marketing coordinator as well as the exhibit technician who probably actually put the wall cae together. As stated in Museum Careers "the marketing manager's job is devoted to developing, refining, and promoting the museum's brand" (p.88)

6: This is CLEARLY the work of the PR/marketing coordinator since a primary function of this position is to increase income to the museum. However, I consider the possibility that since the museum does not a finance officer, this role may be fulfilled by the Assistant General Manager. In any case, "fund-raising activities play an important role in the life of a museum, particularly in times of a sluggish economy and decreasing federal funding" (Glaser, 1996, p. 81).

7: This is my husband bending over one of the touch tanks in the main lobby. These tanks would be the responsibility of several employees. The exhibit technician probably had a hand in designing while the educators and STEM coordinator ensured informational plaques were present and accurate and that the tank was suitable for the animals.

8: This is the crown jewel of the museum, the Hands-On Hall. This is where children are encouraged to run around and touch everything! The Hall is clearly a collaborative effort between the four educators, the exhibit technician and manager, and the STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) coordinator. The educators work closely with exhibit designers during development by contributing ideas and afterwards by observing visitors (Schlatter, p. 81).

9: WEST KRABI COAST | November 10 | Hands-On Hall | The gallery features, puzzles, state-of-the art, interactive video games, the hands-on Science of Motion exhibit, a dinosaur excavation site and an area called Tiny Town for toddlers and preschoolers.

10: The Animal Lab is the other main attraction of the Imaginarium and it displays many different types of creatures from alligators to fish to giant bugs. The museum professionals who had a role in creating this gallery would be the museum educators, the exhibit technician and manager and definitely volunteer staff. We happened to catch a presentation on the various animals who live in the lab from a very nice volunteer named Sally. All the informational signs and plaques would have been the work of the educators plus "the educator is also responsible for docent or guide training" (Glaser, 1996, p. 93).

11: Animal Lab

12: Another view of the Animal Lab, specifically one of the alligator tanks. You can see informational signs in front of the animal enclosures which are, as mentioned previously, a product of the educators.

13: This is the back part of the Animal Lab. The Nano Lab features a row microscopes with different slides.